Warp feeding mechanism for wire weaving machines



Aug. 22, 1933. H. L. THOMP-SON WARP FEEDING MECHANISM FOR WIRE WEAVING' MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 30, 1931 Aug zz, 1933. THOMPSON 1,923,402

WARP FEEDING MECHANISM FOR WIRE WEAVING MACHINES Filed March 30, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 22, 1933. H, THQMPSQN 1,923,402

WARP FEEDING MECHANISM FOR WIRE WEAVING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 30, 1931 Patented Aug. 22, 1933 UNITED STATES WARP FEEDING MECHANISM FOR 'wm WEAVING MACHINES Herbert L. Thompson, Elgin; 111., assignor to Reynolds Wire 00., Dixon, 111., a Corporation Application'March 30, 1931 Serial No. 526,321

15 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a warp feeding mechanism for wire weaving machines, which mechanism is simple of construction and accurate in operation and is adapted to 5 insure the feeding of the respective warp wires to the weaving mechanism at the same rate of speed per lineal foot.

It is also my purpose to provide such a mechanism So constructed and arranged as to provide for backward feeding of the loom, which may be temporarily necessary.

Another object is to provide in such a mechanism an associated means for acting on the warp wires so that they will be fed to the mechanism at uniform and preferably minimum tension.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of 20 my warp feeding mechanism for wire weaving machines, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a wire weaving machine equipped with a warp feeding mechanism embodying my invention, parts of the machine being omitted.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the mechanism 30 and machine shown in Figure 1, parts being broken away and parts being omitted.

Figure 3 is a detail, sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, parts being broken away and parts being omitted.

Figure iris a side elevation-generally similar to that of Figure 1, illustrating another form f my warp feeding mechanism. a

Figure 5 is a rear elevation of the mechanism and machine shown in Figure 1, parts being omitted.

Figure 6 is a detail, sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view somewhat diagrammatic illustrating certain conditions which sometimes exist in Woven wire screen.

In order to make the description of my mechanism clearer and easier to understand, I shall refer briefly to the problems which have given rise to my invention and to the general manner in which I have sought to meet and solve those problems.

I have shown in the accompanying drawings the frame 10 of a wire weaving: machine. In such machines, the warp wires are fed in at the 55 rear end of the machine and are slowly advanced 7 move respectively up and down and at each movement half the warp .wires are raised and half of them are lowered.

Between movements of the heddle frames, the Shuttle carries the weft wire across between the 5 two layers or groups of warp wires. This weaving mechanism is not, shown in my drawings and will not be particularly further described.

In Figuresl and 4 for example, I have shown the warp wires at 11 and 12 as spreadbetween go theheddles to permit the shuttle to pass between them. V I n One of the most annoying defects existing inthe manufacture of woven wire is its tendency to pull. Even though the cloth looks. even and 15 square in the loom, it will sometimes not lie straighter flat uponthe inspection floor. 'This imperfection is apparently, due to, an uneven'feed of the warp wires, 7 I V Heretofore the practice has been to feed the 30 warp wires to a wire weaving loom from a large drum upon which the wires have been preferably wound from spools without definite guidance, so that the individual coils on the drum vary in diameter after winding. #5

, Where such drums are used, a uniform speed of rotation will give a slightly varying speed of feed tothe individual warp wires as they pass to and through the loom. V 7

As the wire is gradually. removed from the drum, the speed of the wire feed is lowered as the radii of the coils on the drum grow shorter.

Since the spacing of the weftlengths is dependent upon the warp feed, this reduction in the speed of the wire feed results in a shorter 06 weft spacing in the final weave, making the wire cloth inaccurate in the spacing of the weft wires and causing the use of more weft wire than is necessary for a given area of cloth.

, As a result of the varying feed of I the warp wires from the drum, the tension ofthe wires will differ. Those passing. off the high coils will be, loose and will tend to feedintor the loom too rapidly. Those being delivered from low coils will be too tight, because they will be'traveling at less than the average speed of the warp.

' As adrum of warp represents a definite length of finished cloth, it. follows that each one of the warp wiresshould be of precisely thesame length as the others. However, as an actual fact, there no is considerable difference in their length due to the inaccuracies of windings on the drum.

Since a length of wire cloth is held together by its warp, it is readily seen why it doesnt remain flat and is not free from strains when the individual warp wires are of different lengths and are fed to the weave at random tensions.

It is desirable to feed to the loom exactly the same lengths of each warp wire. The wire fed must be under considerable tension in orderthat the wires may be crimped properly, but the mere providing of means whereby the individual warp wires are fed to the loom at the same tension will not result in a uniform cloth.-

This is due to the fact that uniform tension can only produce uniform crimp in wires of equal diameter and temper. It is not now practical to control either temper or size of wire within exact limits, W 1

The tension of the weft wire is subject to correction at each passage of the bobbin and therefore slight variations are not cumulative and do not materially influence the quality of the cloth unless grossly out of normal.

In order to get straight flat cloth not under strain, it is essential that each warp wire must be fed in the same length and should be tensioned to produce a crimp over the weft wires uniformly equal in height to that of the other warp wires. Variation in height of crimp necessarily involves variation in the wire length required to form it and when the cloth is bound into a-- roll, subjected to pressure, tension or heated, the actual differences in length will become manifest. Winding the cloth into a roll subjects each convolution to pressure between the preceding and following ones. Pressure upon the prominently crimped wires causes them to be' straightened and therefor apparently lengthened.- The wire thus lengthened will appear as loose. If-there are several of them adjacent to each other, they may cause a wave of deformation in the cloth.

Where wire cloth is uniformly and properly crimped, it should be uniformly two wires thick. In Figure 7, I have shown a sectional view illustrating variation in the crimp of wire cloth.

would contain-the absolute minimum of wire for its cloth area.

However if some of the warp wires, as for instance the wire 13 shown in Figure 7, is'loose, it will be seen that the crossing weft wire 14 will not be properly crimped, and the wire cloth will be threewires thick for a certain area. So in section C, I have shown the weft wire 14 to be slack and taking all'the crimp, while the warp wires 15 are not properly crimped.

Warp wire feeding unit I shall now describe my mechanism for feeding the wire to the loom in such manner that the same lengths of warp wires are fed and will then explain how. this, mechanism elimithree vertically spaced rolls 25, 26 and27.

nates the disadvantages above referred to. Where my apparatus is used, the drum which has heretofore been so commonly used is done away with and I provide a new feeding mechanism at the rear of the machine.

Preferably a transverse shaft 16 is journaled at its ends in the frame 10 in the base 17 as shown at the lower right-hand part of Figure 1 and the lower part of Figure 2.

-' Fixed on the shaft 16 near its ends are side fixed in the frame members 18 and having similar grooves 22. Spaced vertically above the rod or shaft 21 are two rolls 23 and 24. Just rearwardly with relation to the rolls 23 and 24. are The rolls'23 and 24 are staggeredvertically with relation to the rolls 25, 26' and 27. The rolls 23 and 24 are quite close together and the rolls 25, 26 and 27 are quite close together, and

that the rolls 23 and 24 are arranged to nest with relation to the rolls 25, 26 and 27 as shown in Figure 3.

The warp wires 20 are drawn around the shaft 16 as illustrated for instance in Figures 2 and 3. V

g A wooden retainer strip or the like 28 is fastened to the shaft 16 and serves to confine the warp wires intheir respective grooves. The strip 28 is held in place by screws or the like 29, which can be readily removed; I

The warpwires are threaded from the shaft 16 over the rod 21. we

The rod 21' has a similar strip 28 for holding the warp wires in place in their grooves.

From the rod 21, the warp wires are threaded around the rolls 25, 23-, 26, 24 and 27 respectively. The arrangement is such that the wires embrace each roll to the greatestpossible extent. 1

The wires slide over the shaft 16 and rod 21.

The rolls 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 are journaled in the frame members 18 and are geared together by gears 30, to travel at the same rate of speed. They are all of the same diameters, so that all the warp wires are supplied to the loom from the rolls, at the same speed per lineal foot. This result could be accomplished, however, even though rolls of different sizes were used, providing they were so geared that their surface speeds were the same.

The form of said control shown in Figures 1, 22nd 3 is intended for use with a loom equipped with a breast roll feed 31.

With such an arrangement the wire cloth after weaving is passed over the'toothed breast pull to'establish'certain tension upon the warp wires .for weaving purposes. Otherwise the wires would. be subject only to sufficienttension the two series of rolls are close together, so

forth.

For this purpose, I have provided an automatic tensioning device, which will now be described. The details of the construction of this tension device may be varied considerably, but it may be constructed as follows:

Adjacent the ends of the upper roll 2'7, the frame members 18 are provided with lugs or cars 32, to which brake levers 33 are pivoted between their ends as by pins 37. On the spindles or gudgeons 34 of the roll 27 are brake drums 35, which are embraced by the brake bands 36. One end of each brake is pivoted as to a pin 37, preferably in alignment with the pivot of its brake lever 33 and the other end is secured to a projecting end of brake lever 33 as indicated at 88 in Figure 1.

Pivotally and adjustably secured to the brake levers 33 near their other ends are springs 40, which are also secured to the frame'members 18 as illustrated for instance in Figure. 1; These springs tend to hold the brake bands in engagement with their respective drums with a certain degree of' tension, which may be regulated by means of the nuts 41 on the rods 42 projecting from the springs as shown in Figure 1, and extended through pins 42a pivoted to the brake levers 33. It thus appears that the warp wires are pulled around the rolls 23-27 tendingto rotate them. The pull of the springs 40 tightens the brakes on their bands and resists the rotation of the rolls. The friction between the wires and the rolls and the arrangement disclosed is sufficient to hold the wires against slipping on the rolls. Since the rolls are geared together, any rotation thereof must give uniform surfacespeed fortheir entire length and for all their surfaces engaged by the wires, and it follows that all of the wires must "pass through the roll series at the same speed. The rolls thus function both as feed and as tension rolls. r

Theforward ends of the levers 33 are connected by a downward projecting smooth-edged steel bar 43, which rests upon the warp wires as they advance to the loom mechanism. f-

Just forwardly with relation to the bar 43, the frame members 16 are provided with an up wardly projecting similar bar 44 over which the warp wires slide. The lower edge of the bar 43 being below the plate connecting the top of the roller 27 and the upper edge of the bar 44, causes a deflection downwardly of' all the warp wires as shown for instance in Figure 1. 7

As the loom is operated,.the increasing tension. upon the warp wires tends to straighten them out and thus to lift the bar 43 against the tension of the springs 40 and thus to loosen the brakes 36, so as to permit the rolls to feed more freely. By adjusting the nuts 41, ,it is possible to regulate and control the tension required for lift ing the bar 43 and thus release the feed rolls.

It is obvious that the motion of the heddles in raising and lowering the two sets of warp wires would necessarily. bring about a change in length of the wirebetween the rigidly held breast roll 31 and the stationary feed rolls. Therefore some provision must be .made for affording elasticity or otherwise allowing for this change. As shown, I have provided on the frame 10, across bar 45 and on the frame members 18 resilient bumper elements 46.

It issometimes necessary to feed a movement backward momentarily to correct a mistake in the weaveorfor other reasons. In that case, the feed roll unit herein described may swing backwardly toward the dotted line position shown in Figure l. The backward movement of the feed roll unit may be brought about'in a provided at each end of the base 1'? a bell crank nected by a link 49 with one of the members 18.

The levers 47 and the weights 48 are so arranged great variety of ways, but as here shown, I have that the weights normally exert a constant back 7 pull on the feed roll unit nearly equal to the warp tension. v

If it-is desired to feed the warp wires'backward, the power is disconnected and the breast feed roll 31 is manually rotated with a reverse motion'. There is then no forwardpull on the warp wires and the weight'48functions to swing the members 18 backward and keep the warp wires under tension.

It will beunderstood that in practice, the tension on the various warp wires which travel over the shaft 16 varies quite considerably. Ordinarily these wires are fed from spoolshaving different weights and diameters of wires upon them and varying in their frictional contacts with their supporting pins. It therefore becomes desirable to provide some means for insuring the feeding of the wires to the feed rolls 1 at uniform tension which in this case is minimum tension.

Two arms 50 have their lower ends journaled as at 51 in the base 17 and normally project upwardly therefrom and have rearward extensions 52 at their upper ends. The rearward extensions are connected by a cross bar 53. The arms'50 may also be connected by a rod 54 between their ends. 5 l

Rocker Mounted in the frame 10 at opposite sides thereof is a'shaft 55, which has between its ends the eccentric disc 56 on which is journaled the strap 57 connected to the rod 58, which is in turn pivoted to the cross rod 54as indicated at 59 inFigure 3.

As the shaft rotates, reciprocatory move- .ment. is imparted to the rod 58 for thus rocking the bar 53 back and forth through a short stroke. This bar 53 presses against the warp wires between the shaft 16 and the rod 21 at each beat of the loom and forces just enough slack into the warp wires to provide freedom for the next succeeding feed.

' In this way, the device just now described, which for convenience I. may call a rocker, .al-

other-source of supply and the rolls feed only the already loosened wire.

Y Driving mechanism ways actually pulls the wire from the spools or a 1 i 10 Suitably supported on the frame 10 is a power; shaft-60, which is operated from any suitable I is wound on the drum 72' without interfering chine, On the shaft 64 ispivoted anarm 68 to which the forward end of the rod 67 is. pivoted the frame and engages the ratchet 64a to preclutch member.

.vent reverse movement thereof except when the pawl 68?) is released. .Tlius the continuous rotation of the shaft 55'serves toimpart intermittent motion to the shaft 64.

Suitably mounted in the framelO is the shaft 71 for the take-up drum 72 for the woven wire. The Woven Wire after having traveled over the breast roll 31 extends downwardly and is threaded around the roll 73, shown for instance in Figure 1, carried between two pivoted frame arms 74. a

The roller 73 and arms 74serve as a weight.

The pivotal movement of the arms 74 is regulated and the operation of the take-up drum 72 is brought about in the following manner:

The woven Wire is, of course, wound around the drunr .72 after it leaves the roll 73. On the shaft 71 of the drum 72 is a worm wheel 75with which meshes a worm 76 on a shaft 77. meshes with a small beveled gear. 79, which is rotatably supported on the shaft 77 and has the clutch member 80 formed on there. Nonrotatably but slidably mounted on the shaft 77 is a coacting clutch member 81. A rod 82 is slidably mounted in a bearing 83 and is 0per-' atively connected with the. clutch member 81 for sliding said clutch member on the rod 78 and for permitting the freerotation of said The other end of the rod 82 is pivoted as at 84 to one arm of the bell crank lever 85.

ports the cross bar 87 between the arms 74. Thus the roll 73 hangs in the slack of the woven wire cloth indicated by the reference character 88. When the slack drops down, the'bell crank lever actuates the rod 82 and brings the clutch members 81 and 80 into engagement, where.- upon motion is imparted from'the shaft 60 to the shaft 71 for winding the screen wire on the drum72. 'j'

As soon as enough screen wire has been wound upon the drum 72 to begin'to take up the slack, then the roll '73 is lifted, carrying with it the link 86, and so actuating the bell crank lever 84 as to throw the clutch members 81 and 80 out of engagement.

Thus with the type of mechanism-heretofore described, the warp wires are drawn through the machine by the operation of the breastroll. By means of the rolls 23,24, 25,-" 26 and 27,

I.assure the feeding of all the warp wires at the same speed and thus insure the same length of all the warp wires in any given length of wire cloth. By means of the take-up, the woven wire with the operation of the breast roll, and with proper allowance for the diameter of the roll On the shaftSO isa beveled gear 78 which The other end of the bell crank lever 85 is pivoted) a link 86; which in tum consideration the connecting member 87 supconsiderable weight against the vertical warp Power driven .feed unit breast roll 31, there is an idler breast roll 90.

The feed unit of the modified form includes two wide frame members 91, which are rigidly connected to loom'frames 10.

In this form of unit, there is provided a shaft 16 similar to that already explained and also a rod 21 similar to that already explained, and also rolls 23a, 24a, 25a, 26a, and27a similar in size and location and arrangement to the rolls 24-27 except for the differences hereinafter referred to.

It will have been noted that the frame members 91 are not pivoted as are the frame members 18.

The feed rolls 23a27a are connected and operated at the same surface speed by means of a chain of gears 92. The shaft 93 of the roll 24a has on one end the beveled gear 94, which is operated from the shaft 60 in the following manner:

On the shaft 60 is a worm 95 meshing with a worm wheel 96 on a counter-shaft 97.

One'of the frame members 91 carries a driven shaft 98. f 7

Motion. is transmitted from the shaft 97 to the shaft 98 by means of sprockets 99 and 100, and a sprocket chain 101. I

On the shaft 98 is a beveled pinion,102 mesh,-

ing with the beveled gear 94. v 7 Thus the rotation of the shaft 60 imparts continuous rotation to the shaft 93 and therefore to the feed rolls,.so that the .unit in this case provides a positive feed.

In the form of the feeder device now under ports-a carrier 103 for a heavy weight 104 for maintaining suflicient tension on the'wire cloth.

Modified rocker mechanism Where this second form of feed unit is employed, a slightlydifierent form of rocker mechanism is used.

-In order to maintain full frictional contact between the surfaces of the rolls and the warp wires, it is essential that the wire be-under some tension, both as it leaves and as it enters the rolls.

I therefore provide a rocker which will put wires and between the members 16 and 21, and

which will have a long stroke, so that if the rolls are reversed, the rocker will pull the loose wires backwardly enough to maintain tension.

I I have provided the laterally spaced rocker arms 105 having the rearwardly inclined portions 106 at their upper ends connected by the rocker bar 107. An arm 108 projects rearwardly from eacharm 105 and carries a heavy weight 109.

Instead of the rod' 58, I provide in this form 150 of my feed, rods 58a, which are slidably. extended through rotatable studs 110 on the arms 105. The rods 58a are connected with the shaft some tension on account of the ,weight 109.

The weight 109 is sufliciently heavy to pull the warp wires back and maintain them in perfectly tangential contact with the periphery of the roll 250. when the direction of the rolls is reversed, but it does not exert a pull sufficient to unwind the Warp supply spools, As a consequence, it draws wire from the spools only'when forced rearward by the collars 111 upon the rods 58c. However, it readily takes up the slaci; in the warp between the members 16 and if the loom and feed rolls are reversed.

In case the loom is reversed for brief action,

7 the weights 109 will swing the. rocker bar 107 rearwardly farther thanthe collar 111 will fol,- low. Then when forward movement of the loom .is resumed, the slack in the warp wirewill be gradually taken-up untilthe parts are innormal position, whereupon the reciprocat ing rod and the collar 111 will create a proper amount of slack in the warp wires at each beat of the loom.

Operation kind described herein, whereby the warp wires fed at an equal speed to the loom mechanism, the difficulties mentioned earlier in this specificationare almost eliminated.

Any tendencies arising from slight tension errors or variations in size or hardness of the wires are automatically corrected.

An example will illustrate how this occurs;

Suppose a loom equipped with my feed is started with all warp wires under the same tension. After the passage of the shuttle laying the first Weft wire the following heddle reversalwill crimp all warp wires. Those that are soft or small will crimp the most. The next weft wine will crimp the warp again; but as the warp wires that were crimped the most at the prior passage of the shuttle will have utilized a little additional length in so doing, and they can not pass through the feed faster than their neighbors, it follows that they will then have acquired a little more tension than their neighbors, depending upon the amount of extra crimp to which they have been subjected.

This additional tension will reduce the next crimp, and each succeeding crimp, until the ex tra tension developed in each individual small or weft Wire exactly balances the extra size or hardness of the average wire in crimp production.

At the same time that the small and soft wires are acquiring tension to reduce their crimp, the large and hard wires are losing tension, because their smaller crimp does not utilize so much length.

As the loom continues to run, the extra tension of the soft and small wires balances as it were the hardness and size of the hard and large wires, so far as crimp producing ability is concerned, and from then on wire cloth of uniform I have found that with the devices of the mum of variation from the ideal.

Such wire cloth will roll properly and straight and flat when unrolled. 7

It is, of course, true that the warp wires used:

must be of reasonably uniform size and temper,

but a feedv of this kind will take care of they usual variations found in wire selected with rea sonable care.

The advantages of a feederfunit which operates as does the unit herein [described will, of course, be understood from the foregoing explanation of the problems involved.

I am able by means of my unit to weavewire with more nearly a uniform crimp than has been;

possible with mechanisms heretofore employed-.,,

- crimp will continue to be produced with a minie are within the truespirit and scope of my invention.

I claim as'my invention: I 1 1. In a wire cloth weaving loom, a plurality of warp wire feeding rolls arranged for providing for the feeding of a pluralityof warp wires at the same rate of speed, a grooved guide shaft ar-v ranged in the path of the warp wires ahead of the rollers, and a. rocker. bar for intermittently pulling the wires around the shaft for affording, a relatively slack section of wires between the shaft and the rollers. I

2. In a wire cloth weaving loom, a pair of spaced framemember's, a plurality of rolls carried thereby for supplying a plurality of warp wires in equal lengths to the weaving mechanism, a grooved guide shaft spaced from the 'rolls in the path of the warp wires,-;and a rockerbar ar ranged to reciprocate across the pathof said wires between the guide shaft and the rolls." i 3. In awire cloth weaving loom, a warp wire feeding unit comprising a tiltable frame, rolls thereon, arranged to travel at the same surface speed over which warp wiresm'aybe threaded, to cause them totravel at the'same speedfi-re silient means for limiting the movement of the frame inone direction-,-aguide shaft on the frame for the warp --wire's'; -'fa rocker' bar asso ciated withthe frame forreciprocation across the path of the wires between the shaft and the rollers. V I

4. In a wire cloth weaving loom, a warp wire feeding unit including a frame, pivotallymounted to move the rolls mentioned below toward and from the fell of the cloth, warp wire rolls carried by the frame, arranged to travel at the same surface speed over which warp wires may be threaded, to cause them to travel at the same speed, means for resiliently limiting the pivotal movement of the frame toward the fell, means reach the rolls. I 50- the tension of thewarp wires between the unit and said device. r c

5. In a wire cloth weaving loom, a warp wire feeding unit including a frame, pivotally mounted to move one end and the rolls mentioned'below toward and from the fell of the cloth, warp wire rolls'carried by the frame, arranged to travel at the same surface speed, over which warp wires may be threaded, to cause them to travel at the same speed, means for resiliently limiting the pivotal movement of the frame toward the fell, a device for pulling the warp wire from the feeding unit, a brake for said rolls, and means for controlling the brake according to the tension of the warp wires between the unit and said device. v

6. Ina wire cloth weaving loom, a warp wire feeding unit including a frame, pivotally mounted tomove one end and the rolls mentioned below toward and from the fell of the cloth, warp wire rolls carriedby the frame, means for resiliently limiting the pivotal movement of the frame toward'the fell,'means' adapted to intermittently move across the path of the warp wires, before they reach the rolls, for producing slack inthem, a device for pulling the warp wirefrom the feeding unit, a brake for said rolls, and means for controlling the brake according to the tension of the warp wires betweenthe unit and said device. Y I

-7. In a wire cloth weaving loom, a warp wire feeding unit including a'frame, warp wire tensioning 'and'feeding rolls carried by the frame and geared totravel at thesame surface speed, means for imparting rotation to said rolls, a

guide for the warp wires .just prior to their reaching the rolls, a guide for the warp wires, substantially spaced from the rolls, a rocker bar,

means for positively moving the rocker bar infeedingunit including aiframe, warp wire feeding. rollsflcarried by the frame and geared to travelrat the same surface speed-means for imparting rotation to said rolls, andv means for putting slack in thewarp wires before they 9. In-a wire cloth weaving loom, a warp-wire feeding unit including -a frame, warp wire rolls carried by the frame and geared to travel at the same surface speed, means for imparting rotacomprising a rocker bar, and means for yieldinglyholding the said bar against the wires.

10. In a wire cloth weaving loom, a warp wire feeding unit including a frame, warp wire feeding rolls'carried by the frame and geared to travel at the same surface speed, means for imparting rotation to said rolls, a rocker bar, means for positively moving the rocker bar intermittently across the path of the wires before they reach the rolls, and means for yieldingly holding the said bar against the wires. I 7

- 11. In. a wire cloth weaving loom, a warp wire feeding unit including a frame, warp wire rolls carried by the frame, the frame being mounted to move these rolls towardand from the loom, and means for resiliently limiting the movement of theframe toward theloom.

12. In a wire cloth weaving loom, a warp wire feeding unit including a'frame, warp wire rolls carried by the frame, the frame being mounted to move these rolls toward and from the loom, means for resiliently limiting the movement of the frame toward the loom, means adapted to intermittently move cross the path of the warp wires before they reach the rolls for producing slack in them, and wire guide means. on opposite sides of said last means.

I .13. In a wire cloth weaving loom, a series of rolls, arranged to travel at the same surface speed, arranged in rows in nested relation so that warp wires threaded over them will travel at the same speed, spaced wire guide means in the path of the wire ahead of the rolls, and means for imparting relative slack to the wires between the guides.

l4. In a wire cloth weaving machine, warp wire rolls, a breast roll for drawing the cloth from the machine, a' take-up drum for cloth passing from the breast roll, a swinging roller resting on the cloth between the breast roll and the take-up drum, and thus move it out of line between said breast roll and drum, and means for rotating the drum controlled by the position of said swinging roller.

15. In a wire cloth weaving machine, a frame, a plurality of warp wire rolls thereon, a warp wire guide roll spaced from said first-named rolls, a rocker bar adapted to rest against the wires extending between the last-described roll and the first-described rolls, and meanstending to hold, the rocker bar against such wires for taking up slack when the operation of the machine is temporarily reversed.

HERBERT L. THOMPSON. 

